Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, has been dubbed by way of some as the secure money of the Internet. Using appropriate caution, one can make or get hold of payments to anyone besides revealing any sensitive data linked to their bitcoin accounts or wallets. Other cryptocurrencies like Litecoin and Ripple are additionally seeing a surge in transactions.
Riding high on the increasing acceptance of bitcoin and other virtual currencies, many companies have started out providing payment-related services that make and receive payments in crypto.
Thanks to these bitcoin payment services, you can pay for a cup of coffee at the corner espresso store by scanning the shop’s QR code on your mobile phone, or buy a high-end laptop computer from a large and established company like Dell through making payments in bitcoin.
- Touted as “the secure money of the Internet,” bitcoin is starting to grow to be accepted as a form of payment, comparable to credit cards, at many businesses.
- Bitcoin payment services act as an intermediary layer between the payer and receiver for processing of the bitcoin payments; a couple of platforms which includes Shopify and Magento offer support for receiving bitcoin payments.
- The bitcoin payment service immediately converts the received bitcoins into the currency of your choice, getting rid of the volatility risk.
Compared to a wellknown credit card payment, bitcoin payments purport to be surprisingly more cost-effective due to lower transaction costs.
In a nutshell, bitcoin payment services, or bitcoin merchant services, allow merchants and businesses to receive payments in bitcoins from people for the goods and services being bought or delivered.
It works in a similar way to the processing of a standard credit or debit card payment service, with some specifics to bitcoins.
For example, we go to a grocer store to make a purchase, swipe our Amex or Visa credit card at the counter, and punch in the PIN number to make the necessary payment. Similarly, we can make an online purchase at the grocer website, and make the payment using the same credit card by entering the details on the payment page of the website.
In each instances (the in-store swipe machine or the online web portal), a payment service system works in the back of the scenes and permits authentication and processing of our credit card for making the payment. The payment service takes care of securely recording and transmitting crucial details of the payment, authenticating the credentials, enabling the transfer of money from our account to grocer, and issuing a confirmation to all the involved stakeholders.
Bitcoin payment services work in a similar fashion. They act as an intermediary layer between the payer and receiver for processing of the bitcoin payments, which also includes recording the transaction on the blockchain public ledger.
They enable retailers to accept payments in bitcoins both online and at physical places without the buyer or the vendor worrying about the complex background process of bitcoin payments that gets done in the background.